For the Love of Fires
by Chocobo-Cloud
Summary: Axel cannot escape the fires that engulf him everyday, as they come in many forms. Born as a pyromaniac, will Axel be able to control his obsession before it harms the ones he love? Rated M for sexual content and minor language


A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first AkuRoku story, I hope you enjoy! There is no M rated material here in this chapter, but it will come very soon! This story will be only about four or five chapters long, just as a heads up c: I have not stopped writing my other stories, I just wanted to try my hand at this! Enough rambling- enjoy!

O O O

The car door was closed with a slam, two pale legs covered in an array of brightly colored band aids touching the mulch covered ground simultaneously. A woman, with tired creases on her forehead, rolled down the window of the car she was driving, meeting her son's eyes with the same green intensity that stared back into her own.

"Please, Axel. Be a good boy while I run to the store." The red headed mother ran a worried hand through her tense pony tail, trying to negotiate with her little boy. Axel looked back at his mom, nose wrinkling in displeasure.

"You can trust me, okay? I'll stay inside of the park, Xandra, I promise." Axel nodded in senserity, a small smile on his face. Axel's mother took a deep breath in, gathering her senses. What could a mother do? Especially the mother of a child who insisted on addressing his mom by her first name. Xandra motioned for Axel to come closer to her, and with a slight eye roll, Axel tilted his head forward so that his mom could kiss him on his head of red spikes. It was a mother's habit.

"Be safe, Axel." The boy nodded, turning around and walking to the playground, the collection of Digimon key chains hanging off of his backpack jingling in the wind. Xandra bit her lip, praying for her son to not do anything rash. "I love you!" You called after him. Axel looked over his shoulder, a smile on his face, waving to the woman. She was never going to treat Axel as a normal child, not as long as he held the dangerous habits that he did.

O O O

Axel shrugged off his blue backpack, setting it onto a familiar bench. He had always come to this particular park, in all the seven years he had been alive. Xandra would drop him off and run to the store, or for any other errand she had to attend. There was no chance in leaving the redheaded child alone by himself at the store. His mother would come home to find him sticking things in the flame of the stovetop burner.

With a smile, Axel dashed over to the play set, once painted a neon color of green that was now freckled with rust. Pushing off as hard as he could off the ground, the boy jumped into the air, grabbing hold of the handlebars hanging above. It was a feat that many children his age would consider to be difficult, but for Axel, it was the best part of the whole jungle gym. Swinging back and forth to gain momentun, Axel's left hand reached out, gripping the next handlebar ahead. Pulling his body forward, Axel continued his pattern of swinging and grabbing at the next set of bars. He had the timing and acceleration of a pro gymnast. Left, right, swing, grab. Left, right, swing, grab.

Axel's feet dangled inches above the platform of play set steps, a shadow casting over the rubber ledge, but something to the left of the boy caught his attention.  
_Zree~__  
_Axel turned his head, staring out to the grass that laid beside the play ground. A smile crept across the boy's face, pure atrociousness painting his face. With a swinging start,the redheaded boy released his grip of the bars above, falling to the ground with hazardous grace, picking himself up to not even brush the mulch off of his pants, running over to the grass. Getting down on hands and knees, Axel searched for the insect that had made the mysterious noise. His hands pushed apart clusters of grass in the same manner that the boy would attempt to slick down his protruding hair in the early morning. _Where are you bug...? _  
"Aha!" Axel spotted the insect he had been trying to locate, a single cicada sitting on a fat strand of vibrant green grass, singing its song without a care in a world. The boy jumped up, tottering over to his backpack that was on the bench where he had left it. Sticking his hand in, Axel fished around for his magnifying glass, wondering if his mother had confiscated it as well. His hand touched the cool metal of the handle, and with a gleeful grin, the magnifying glass was pulled out and brought back over to the location of the cicada in record time. Axel stared up at the sky, a hand shading his face from the direct rays of light. Finding out the location of the sun, Axel shifted to the right, holding the magnifying glass above the insect in a direct ray of sun. The boy had to contain his excitement and jumpiness inside as he saw the ray shining through the glass in a pinpoint on the cicada's shell, like a red sniper's mark on its victim.  
"What are you doing!!" Axel flinched at the sudden shout, dropping his magnifying glass into the grass, watching is utter dismay as the cicada flew away. "Were you trying to kill that buggie??" Axel turned around, shooting an evil glare at whoever had stopped his act. _Oh, it's just a little boy._

The boy standing before Axel was indeed younger, at least by two years, Axel guessed. His blonde hair stuck up in awkward licks, spiking up this way and that way, intriguing the redhead. Angry, large blue eyes as clear as the sky returned Axel's fixated stare, a small mouth set into a frown.  
"So what if I was?!" Axel called back, bending down the grab his magnifying glass. It was warm from lying on the heated earth, no longer cool like it had been when resting in his backpack. The younger boy gripped the plush bear that was in his hands, his hands quivering ever so slightly. Axel examined the stuffed animal, assuming that it was the blonde's favorite toy. The bear was a worn brown, with various grass stains adorning its belly, the velvet nose giving way to the hard plastic underneath. An eye was missing off of the teddy, repleased with a felt heart cut-out and a band aid. To Axel, the stuffed animal was absolutely adorable.  
"You shouldn't kill things! What if you were that bug and I tried to burn you?!" Axel was oblivious of the statement the teddy bear boy had spoken, his emerald eyes fixed on the stuffed animal, the tiniest of smiles on his face. The redhead stepped forward, a hand extended to the bear.  
"I really like your bear! Can I-"  
"Don't touch Mr. Bear!" The blonde hid the stuffed animal behind his back, squeezing his eyes, hoping that if he did so the scary older boy would go away. Axel jerked his hand to his side, taken aback by the younger kid's actions. _I wasn't going to hurt him...I just wanted to see it. _  
Axel shrugged his shoulders to himself, shaking the reaction off the best he could. Everyone he met was always hesitant around him.  
"I'm sorry..." The blonde opened his eyes again, his mouth still set in a stern line.  
"About trying to kill that bug?" He prompted, hugging Mr. Bear in his arms again. Axel dallied in whether he should nod or not, but he _was _truly sorry for his actions. He couldn't help that he was drawn to fire. He couldn't. Axel nodded apologetically.  
"Yeah. I wasn't gonna hurt Mr. Bear, either." The blonde boy smiled for the first time he had seen Axel.  
"Okay. I believe you." The mood of the air brightened and Axel stared at the smaller blue eyed boy as he fingered the ear of his teddy bear. "I'm Roxas." The blonde said, peering up to Axel.  
"Ah...I'm Axel!" The boy returned, jerking his thumb to his chest. "Got it memorized?"  
"No." Roxas said, flicking off a piece of dirt that had clumped onto Mr. Bear's ear. "I'm bad at memorizing names. And I probably won't see you again." Roxas glanced up at Axel, a smile on his face. "Just kidding!"  
"Roxas?" A blonde woman walked up behind the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. Roxas spun around, hugging her waist.  
"Mommy!" Axel stared at the scene, a faint smile on his face. He wished that his mother would treat him like that. Xandra was far too busy warning Axel what not to set on fire, though. "Mommy, this is my new friend, Axel!"  
"Oh? Is that so?" Roxas' mom smiled at the redheaded boy, a sincere look on her face. "What is your name?"  
"My name is Axel...miss." The pyro said, remembering his manners at the last moment.  
"Axel, what a fine name!" The woman ran her hand through Roxas' bemused hair before looking back at the boy. "We should plan a play date sometime, shouldn't we boys?" Roxas nodded egarly, hugging Mr. Bear to his chest. Axel blushed a bit at the odd name Roxas' mother had used. _We're both boys, so it's not called a play date. _Axel still nodded, feeling sad for Roxas' mom that she didn't know that.  
"Xandra would be happy if I hung out with someone." The boy commented, digging his toe into the mulch timidly.  
"Xandra?" Roxas' mother asked, her voice raised, a smile on her face. "You're Xandra Fynn's son?"  
"Yeah. I call her Xandra, not mommy." Axel and Roxas looked at each other with equal blank faces, confused as to why the blonde woman was excited over the new information.  
"I'm Xandra's boss at the hospital she works at downtown, sweetie! She's mentioned you a few times, but never said your name." The woman startled Axel by bending down and giving him a squeezy hug.  
"Tell her to give me a call sometime, okay?"  
"Yes ma'am!" Axel was ecstatic. He had just made his first friend **and **the said friend's mother was his mother's boss. Xandra would certainly be happy. Roxas' mother smiled one more time before taking her son's small hand in her own.  
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Axel. Roxas and I have a few errands to run, but don't forget!" Axel nodded, smiling to the blonde boy who looked at him happily.  
"I've already got it memorized!" Axel and Roxas waved good-bye as they went there separate ways. The redhead picked up his backpack, slinging it over his narrow shoulders, looking back at Roxas and his mother, walking across the parking lot to their car. Mr. Bear dangled from the boy's hand, swaying gently in the wind that was wrapping around Axel's red hair. _See you Roxas and Mr. Bear! _Axel sat himself down onto the bench, waiting for Xandra to come back from grocery shopping, wondering if Roxas would like the nickname _Roxy bear._

_O O O _

What do you guys think? This ***will not* **be shotacon, this chapter was just a little background on how the two met! Feed back is loved! See you all later c:


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